Introduction

Several I/O benchmark options exist under Linux.

Using hddparm with the -Tt switch, one can time sequential reads. This method is independent of partition alignment!

There is a graphical benchmark called gnome-disks contained in the gnome-disk-utility package that will give min/max/ave reads along with ave access time and a nice graphical display. This method is independent of partition alignment!

The dd utility can be used to measure both reads and writes. This method is dependent on partition alignment! In other words, if you failed to properly align your partitions, this fact will be seen here since you're writing and reading to a mounted filesystem.

Using hdparm

Note: One should run the above command 4-5 times and manually average the results for an accurate evaluation of read speed per the hddparm man page.

Using gnome-disks

# gnome-disks

Users will need to navigate through the GUI to the benchmark button ("More actions..." => "Benchmark Volume..."). Example

Using systemd-analyze

systemd-analyze plot > boot.svg

Will plot a detailed graphic with the boot sequence: kernel time, userspace time, time taken by each service. Example

Using dd

Note: This method requires the command to be executed from a mounted partition on the device of interest!

First, enter a directory on the SSD with at least 1.1 GB of free space (and one that obviously gives your user wrx permissions) and write a test file to measure write speeds and to give the device something to read:

Notes:
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OCZ

The OCZ Drives use compression on Data, so with uncompressible encrypted Data, speeds are expected to be way lower. Still, seek times should be as low as ever and the drive shouldn't get slower when it gets full, so there should be enough speed.

What annoyed me was the poor read performance. I observed that in battery mode with unplugged AC the read rate was 500 MB/s. I did some research and found out that pm-utils is to blame. In AC mode it sets journal commit time to zero and readahead to 256 whereas in battery mode it sets journal commit time to 600 and readahead to 3072. See scripts /usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/journal-commit and /usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/readahead. So I added a custom config to set journal commit time always to 600 and readahead always to 4096, the result made me happy :)

Comparison - high end SCSI RAID 0 hard drive benchmark

LSI 320-2X Megaraid SCSI

Comment: No, this is not an SSD, but Googlers should have a reasonable basis for comparison to a high end hard drive system, and you won't get much higher end for an individual workstation. The cost of this disk subsystem is conservatively $760, and it gives at best half the performance of most SSDs.